Time Strategies

Whether it be missing that doctor's appointment, neglecting a friend, or missing the midnight deadline, we have all been there. No matter the personality type or path of life, everyone encounters the challenge of time management. And never have I found this more prevalent in my life until now in college. Young adults at universities are often consumed with pressure and high expectations set for them. One of the things I learned last year was that a key to successful time management in an academic setting is learning how to efficiently study. This tool did not come naturally for me; I found that I spent a lot of time during my freshman year learning things I already knew because that was the  easiest and quickest thing to do. With time, practice, and many bumps along the road, I have found a strategy for managing my time throughout the day, and I foresee this strategy will continue to be fine tuned with more obstacles.

The articles were useful, and I found it interesting how a psychological factor is involved with motivation and time management. If you are a visual person like me, writing checklists is the way to go! Marchese mentions how we have an innate drive to accomplish things, and the action of crossing out something on a list can have neurological benefits through the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved with reward and pleasure. Essentially, setting goals within goals is a beneficial way to tackle the endless to-do list head on in a calm and organized fashion. When it comes to staying motivated, the hardest part for me is to maintain stamina throughout the entire week. I am a firm believer that this fiery motivation is only possible to maintain when I take care of myself physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. I have found meditation or yoga as a great tool to lower my stress level.

For this class in particular, I foresee my biggest challenge occuring when I have a heavy loaded midterm week in my in-person classes. With the online format, it can be easy to overlook this course and accidentally put it on the back burner if the weekly assignments are not built into your daily routine. With an organized agenda and many checklists, I am excited to continue mastering my own time management skills. Maybe I will even be able to bid farewell to procrastination for good.

Juggling time as a college student, Flickr

Articles used:

1. The Psychology of Checklists (link)

2. 11 ways unsuccessful people mismanage their time (link)